Pennsylvania pastor arrested

Pennsylvania Pastor Accused of Killing Wife.

Suicide Leads Cops to Nab Pastor for Allegedly Murdering Second Wife.

A grisly suicide in the office of a Pennsylvania pastor has led investigators to arrest the church leader for allegedly killing his second wife and then staging a car accident to hide it. Also under investigation is whether he played a role in the mysterious death of his first wife.

Rev. Arthur Burton Schirmer, 62, entered no plea Monday in a Tannerville, Pa., courtroom, hours after authorities arrested him at his Reeders home for the 2008 death of wife Betty, 56.

The man who broke in and shot himself at the desk in Schirmer's office at the Reeders United Methodist Church, Joseph Mustante, was the husband of the pastor's secretary, Cynthia Musante, Poconos Township Police Detective James Wagner said.

Mustante's suicide was prompted by the discovery that his wife and the pastor had apparently been having an affair, Wagner said. He was alone at the time of his death.

Investigators looking into the suicide say that several church parishioners had concerns about the deaths of Schirmer's two wives.

"That suicide eventually exposed the affair publicly and subsequent to that, questions arose about the loss of [Schirmer's] wives and his character became questionable," Wagner said.

Mustante's suicide was prompted by the discovery that his wife and the pastor had apparently been having an affair, Wagner said. He was alone at the time of his death.

Investigators looking into the suicide say that several church parishioners had concerns about the deaths of Schirmer's two wives.

"That suicide eventually exposed the affair publicly and subsequent to that, questions arose about the loss of [Schirmer's] wives and his character became questionable," Wagner said.